I think I wouldn't have dared if I hadn't had Lena as an example. She told me I could do it, and I believed her (and I have done it. My daughter is eleven now). We had to hire someone to come in once a week to clean and change my daughter's sheets. I couldn't handle the sheets on the crib at all.

We also had to teach our daughter early how to climb up on her own changing table. Once she reached 20 lbs, I couldn't lift her, and I had real trouble being down on the floor to change a diaper. Fortunately, she was a skinny little thing, so I could still lift her as late as eighteen months.